May You Live in Interesting Times
by Vashkoda
Summary: Elizabeth is all too familiar with curses, believing that she suffered from one herself after she picked up Will's pirate medallion. How will she put back together the pieces of her life, now that her love is gone?
1. Interesting Times

Disclaimer: I don't own "Pirates of the Caribbean" or anything associated with it.

* * *

The Flying Dutchman was burned into Elizabeth's eyes by the flash of green, so that its ghostly afterimage continued to play across her field of vision as she stared out over the horizon.

_This isn't the end_, she tried reassuring herself. _He'll return when his sentence is up, and really, ten years isn't **that** long a time. _

When the last flicker of sunset faded, she at last tore her eyes away from the ocean. Her body--so recently burned by the passion of William's love--was now numb and leaden. She clumsily waded through the dusty sand to reach the rocks where she had placed the Dead Man's Chest. She rested her head against the worn wooden box, listening to the echo of Will's heartbeat within.

_At least I have some small part of my husband with me,_ she told herself, trying not dwell on how macabre the whole concept was. Yet even that was only temporary. Every pirate and sailor who had been at that memorable sea battle knew that Elizabeth was the keeper of the heart of Davy Jones's successor. Even the title of Pirate King would not dissuade them from coming after her in the hopes of capturing the Chest.

She would have to hide the box. Bringing it onto the Empress was out of the question.

Elizabeth glanced back up at the ocean, wondering if her crew would even come back for her. Jack and Barbossa--knowing the risks of being marooned--had purposefully selected an inhabited island for her honeymoon. A small town lay about a mile to the north, and she would head that way first thing in the morning if there was no sign of her ship. But she likewise could not afford the risk of being seen carrying the Chest with her there.

She reluctantly peeled herself away from Will's heart and began to explore the beach for a good hiding place. After a half-hour of searching in the twilight darkness, she at last found a mound of large rocks that would be easy to identify. Any pirate worth their salt would check there first, of course, but then Elizabeth was only using it as a marker. Taking fifteen steps north, towards the village, she came to a small stream. She followed the stream into the jungle, where it twisted through the thick vegetation. At last Elizabeth reached the water's source--a freshwater spring that bubbled out of another cluster of rocks. This was more promising. She followed her footsteps back the way she came and gathered the Chest in one arm and a boat oar in the other. When she reached the spring again, she found the nearest tree and engraved a tiny 'x' into the trunk where it would only be visible if one knew just where to look. She then put down the chest, took up the oar, and began to shovel out the moist black earth.

After making a sizeable hole, Elizabeth leaned against the oar and contemplated the small wooden box.

_I am about to bury the only thing I have left of my husband_, she realized in sudden dread. _I am leaving behind both our hearts in that chest._

Yet what choice did she have? This was the path that fate had cruelly chosen for them. Elizabeth's twisted life had begun the moment she had taken Will's pirate medallion and seen the Black Pearl sail away into the mists.

_That damn coin..._ she silently swore. Bootstrap had suffered its original curse, but Elizabeth suffered in her own way as well. She had lost her heritage and nobility as the Governor's daughter; lost her dear father after getting him involved in her troubles; and lost her husband on the very day they were married. Now Bootstrap was at last reunited with his son, while Elizabeth herself-

_No, don't think that way_, she scolded herself. _He and Will have been apart since he was born; they deserve to be together. **You** only joined his family this morning._

She let the tears roll freely down her cheeks as she tenderly lifted the box and placed it in the center of the hole. Her fingers stroked the old wood as she sent her blessings and prayers to the owner of the heart inside. Elizabeth then averted her gaze from the box as she dropped the first shovel-full of dirt on top of it, afraid that if watched it slowly vanish beneath the earth, she might lose her nerve.

When the task was done, she hastily scattered dirt and leaves over the pile, raking the ground with her oar to mask the signs of her passing. She then followed her footprints back to the beach, erasing them as she went. Only when the oar was rinsed and all marks of her nightly activities hidden did she allow herself to break down and scream.

o-o-o

Her tears were almost all spent when Elizabeth heard a voice call out to her. Wiping her eyes with her sleeve, she thought she could make out a small light bobbing up and down in the darkness, coming from the ocean.

A dinghy. The Empress had actually come back for her.

* * *

Elizabeth fumed in anger, causing the pirates around her to bow low and mumble excuses about their duties before scurrying away quickly from her sight.

Only the female bodyguards stayed faithfully at her sides. Some of them had been pregnant before, and sympathetically endured the worst of her mood swings.

She now bitterly laughed to think that she had once lamented burying the last thing she had left of Will. Only later did she realize that he had left her something far more precious. Elizabeth still hadn't decided which token of her husband's love was the harder one to bear.

"Your highness," greeted her advisor smoothly as Elizabeth stormed into the bathhouse. "You honor us with your visit."

She tried not to flash her teeth in a snarl as she slowly bobbed her head in acknowledgement. They were surrounded by men--_her men_, supposedly--yet if it came to a fight, she suspected that most of them would side with Pai Huang. His younger brother Tai had been a popular leader among Sao Feng's pirates, but he had preferred to sail under Barbossa and Jack to a female captain. Elizabeth had initially wondered why Pai and some of the rest of Feng's old crew choose to come back for her on that island. Pai had then revealed to Elizabeth her true value to Sao Feng's empire--with the Pirate King as their leader, they were automatically awarded the final say in any argument, and given the right to sail and pillage on any of the seven seas without begging the permission of each respective Pirate Lord.

Pai Huang had initially presented himself as Elizabeth's faithful servant, teaching her the duties of her new position and dazzling her with the treasures Sao Feng had hidden over the years. He would translate her orders to the crew so that she never needed to learn Chinese, and handpicked her bodyguards himself. The men began to assume that any order given by Pai Huang was a direct order from Elizabeth herself.

She eventually came to realize that he had purposefully made himself invaluable to her, so that she would be unable to run her empire without him. Pai Huang had noticed when this sudden epiphany came to her, and merely cocked an eyebrow at her, waiting to see what she would do. Of course there was nothing she _could_ do. There was no one among her men that she could trust, and no help to be gotten elsewhere. She was a pirate now, easily recognizable to the authorities even before Pai Huang had convinced her to get the dragon tattoo on her right shoulder. Going to them for help would only earn her a trip to the noose.

_If only Jack were here_, she mused longingly. _He could get me out of this mess ...although he'd probably start four or five other messes in the process._

No, she would just have to find some way of dealing with Pai herself. She may have tricked her way into being named Pirate Lord of South China Sea, but she had earned the title of Pirate King. If she could rally the courage of a fleet of cowardly, self-serving sea dogs and convince them to go to war, she could find a way to take back her Empire from Pai.

Batting away the steam with her fan, Elizabeth addressed her advisor coldly, "I dislike coming to the bathhouses, Pai Huang. Sao Feng may have enjoyed ruling from underground, but I prefer the open air and high peaks of his uncle's temple."

Pai's almond-shaped eyes narrowed slightly, and Elizabeth took pleasure in knowing she had angered him. She suspected the man did not appreciate being reminded that he worked in a sewer.

"Captain Swann, I merely wished for you to see how quickly the reconstruction of your base was progressing-"

Elizabeth interrupted him with the sharp snap of her fan. "My name is Captain _Turner_, Mister Huang. And you can build bathhouses all you wish, but I will continue to rule from the temple."

The man rushed toward her, abandoning all pretense of servility. Her bodyguards stiffened and reached for their swords, moving forward to shield Elizabeth with their bodies. Elizabeth wasn't sure who looked more surprised--her or Pai.

_Well, that's interesting_, she thought to herself. _Maybe I do have allies here after all._

Pai Huang stopped several feet away from her, nervously eying the swords of her bodyguards. "Your Highness, could we have a word in private, _please?_"

Elizabeth doubted that many in the room knew enough English to follow their conversation anyway, but Pai's frightened look and tone spoke volumes in any language. Casting a quick look around the room, she noted in satisfaction that everyone's eyes were now on them.

She turned her back to the assembled men, making certain they all saw the dragon that proclaimed her as the Pirate Lord, and strolled out of the room. She would not spoil the effect by looking back to see if Pai followed; she knew that he would anyway.

They reached the stairs leading down to the steam cellar. Elizabeth shook her head as one of her guards looked at her in askance, then the woman nimbly ran down and took a position at the bottom of the steps. Elizabeth understood that the guard was preventing anyone from getting close enough to eavesdrop. Another woman detached herself from the group and ran past Pai, probably to watch the corridor from which they had entered. Elizabeth nodded at the two remaining guards gratefully, then turned a sour glance on her advisor.

"You are being foolish again, Highness," said the man in a mildly disapproving tone, the way a parent might scold a young child. He even had the audacity to smile at her.

So, he wanted to play _that_ game, did he?

"Pray tell, Mister Huang-" Elizabeth said slowly, straightening her back so that she loomed over the old man, "what error do you accuse your Lord Captain of making?"

Pai paused uncomfortably. The way she had phrased the question forced him to choose his next words carefully, or he risked being accused of treason.

"I have only your best interests in mind, my Lord," Pai Huang said humbly, bowing low. "It is my duty to remind you that the transition of leadership has left many of our men uncertain about the future. _I _know that you are strong, as do the men who served with you on the Empress, but these others only see you as a woman. They would be reassured if you married and could pass the burden of leadership on to another-"

"I _am_ married, Mister Huang, and I already have an heir-" she reminded him flatly, motioning at the swell of her belly, "who I can 'pass the burden to' when I so choose. I do not appreciate you calling me 'Captain Swann' in front of the men, as if implying that I were still available."

"Of course, highness," said Pai reassuringly, giving her another bow. He was about to turn around, thinking the meeting was over, but Elizabeth still something to say.

"Pai," she called out, making him glance up at her in surprise. There was no mistaking the warning look in her eyes.

"Níng wéi tàipíng quǎn, bù zuò luànshì rén," she said in perfect Chinese. It was the only phrase she had ever seen make a man cry, and she had immediately asked for a translation and help speaking the words until she had it down pat.

Pai Huang looked visibly shaken, though whether it was from her curse or the possibility that she knew more Chinese than she let on, Elizabeth couldn't say. The man fled down the corridor as if the kraken itself were after him.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I got the translation from Wikipedia, though apparently there's no authentic source of the Chinese proverb. Still, I like the fact that it's only the first of three curses. Maybe I can find something interesting to write two more chapters on.


	2. Those in authority

Disclaimer: I don't own Pirates of the Caribbean or anything associated with it.

* * *

_"The King and his men,  
pulled the Queen from her bed  
and bound her in her bones..."_

Elizabeth's arm flung out over the desk, sending the neatly stacked books flying across the room. The cabin boy's mouth hung open in mid-song, his eyes widened and afraid as he stared at his furious captain.

Suddenly embarrassed by her actions, Elizabeth muttered a quick apology and sent the lad scurrying out of her quarters before locking the door behind him. With a tired sigh, she then threw her body down onto the quilted bed and buried her face in the musty pillow.

_It's not his fault; he can't help but sing that blasted song_ she reminded herself bitterly. _I doubt he even knows the meaning of the words, and not just because they're in __English_.

Of course, the words were meaningless now that Calypso was freed, but the magic of the old sea shanty still held great power. Like herself, Elizabeth imagined the other nine Pirate Lords were converging on Shipwreck Cove. She would not have willingly left her five year-old son behind in Singapore, but there were some things that she simply had no control over.

_Have you ever had control over anything?_ she mused to herself, thinking about the whirlwind of events that was her past.

_Yes, once,_ she answered, her thoughts lingering fondly on the memory. _I fell in love with a blacksmith ...and turned him into a pirate._

_And that's where all your troubles started, Lizzie m' girl! _

For some reason, her inner self was now speaking in Jack Sparrow's voice. _I guess that fits. Look at me, having conversations with myself. I've already gone mad, just like him._

Elizabeth sighed and tossed a glance out the porthole window. Not far off the starboard bow, torch lights were twinkling from the giant monstrosity that was the pirate stronghold. She had stared in amazement at it five years ago, trying to figure out how the skeletal remains of dozens of ships could be strung together into a fortress. Now the sight of it only filled her with cold dread.

A hesitant knock finally drew her gaze away. "Captain, we have arrived," announced a muffled voice behind the door.

She leapt to her feet, her heart pounding in her chest. With a burst of nervous energy, she unbolted the door and flung it open, surprising the crewman waiting on the other side.

"Come with me," she ordered her first mate, brushing past him to climb hurriedly up to the deck. As if sensing her mood, the crew looked unusually anxious. She barked quick orders for them to keep the sails unfurled and the anchor chain taut. When the Empress finally docked, Elizabeth was the first down the boarding plank.

"Be ready. We might have to leave here in a hurry," she reminded them in Chinese, aware of the local dockhands listening nearby. The crew nodded and drew charms in the air with their fingers to ward her. She smiled at the superstitious gesture, knowing that they feared being in a place where mankind had once challenged a god.

"You expect trouble?" her first mate asked, keeping his voice lowered as he came up alongside her.

"They're pirates. It makes sense to expect treachery," she answered flatly.

"Yes, but... doesn't the Code make this place neutral? They wouldn't dare try something here."

Elizabeth's grim smile went unseen in the darkness.

* * *

Jack Sparrow was bored ...a condition that never sat well with Jack Sparrow, but bode even worse for those people around him. Sometimes in his boredom he would resort to doing some serious _thinking_, and while mad and clever schemes seemed to come to him naturally, it was nothing compared to what he could come up with when he _actually_ _tried_.

His thoughts, as usual, were centered on the Black Pearl, more so because it's so-called captain was standing right there next to him. Barbossa noticed his evil glare and threw him an innocent smile in return. Jack had to work hard to suppress a fit of angry cursing, and managed to ask instead, in a sweet singsong voice, just what reason Barbossa had to summon the Brethren Court _this time_.

Every pirate packed into that tiny little room went immediately silent, casting their dark and suspicious looks on one Hector Barbossa. The Pirate Lord grinned back at Jack, completely ignoring the others watching him.

"Nay, t'wasn't me this time, lad. I'm just as confounded by this summons as you are."

Somehow Jack doubted that. He cast quick glances at the other Pirate Lords to see if any of them had reacted unusually, but they all seemed occupied with airing their grievances at each other. Jack sank deeper into his chair and did his best to avoid further attention. It would not do to have some of those Lords remember the grievances they had with _him_. Especially the ones involving money.

Attendants suddenly rushed forward and pulled open the heavy oaken doors that served to seal the room in privacy. In strode none other than Elizabeth Swa- _er, Turner _herself, followed by a single crewman carrying an odd glass bowl. Jack followed the others' example and quickly rose to his feet, waiting until Elizabeth had found her chair before sitting back down.

Dressed in Asian silks of exotic hues, Elizabeth looked like a radiant flower ...a flower with thorns--mind you--and let's not forget the nest of scorpions hiding under its shade. Still, her beauty reminded him how someone as clever as himself had still managed to fall under her spell and be subsequently cast into the hells of Davy Jones' Locker.

He tried to catch her eye to flatter her with his charming smile, but Elizabeth conspicuously avoided looking at either him or Barbossa. Her flustered expression reminded him of the look she gave him after chaining him to the mast of his doomed ship. _Interesting. What might Lizzie have done to be feeling guilty _this_ time? Could she possibly have cheated on dear William!? No, that wouldn't be like her ...not unless it was with me, of course, but I would have remembered something like that. Well... maybe. It would depend on the quantity of rum._

That didn't explain why she was acting guilty around Barbossa, however. Not unless she'd also..._ no_...

_That minx!_

The deep voice of Captain Teague, Keeper of the Code, broke through Jack's troubled thoughts. "The Brethren Court is now assembled. Would the one who issued this summons please rise and make yerself known?"

A hushed murmur swept through the chamber as each Lord glared accusingly at his or her neighbors. Jack spared a quick glance at Elizabeth, wondering if she could be the one, but the woman made no move except to stare miserably at the glass bowl her attendant had placed in front of her. Just as Jack's interest waned and attention was about to focus elsewhere, he saw her features change into a mask of firm resolve.

The harsh scrape of a chair against stone drew every eye to the front of the room as Elizabeth leapt to her feet. She plunged her hand into the bowl--which Jack suddenly noticed was filled with water--and pulled out a smooth gray stone.

Drunk as he was, recognition dawned only slowly on Jack's face. _Wait a minute, that's not a-_

"CALYPSO, GODDESS OF THE SEAS, YOUR RIGHTEOUS FURY CAST DOWN THE MAN WHO BETRAYED YOUR LOVE, BUT YOUR VENGEANCE IS NOT YET COMPLETE! NINE PIRATE LORDS STAND HERE IN PLACE OF THOSE WHO BOUND YOU IN HUMAN FORM! I OFFER YOU OUR LIVES IN EXCHANGE FOR THE LIFE OF A MAN LOST AT SEA!"

A cold wind came out of nowhere and circled around the chamber, extinguishing every single torch. The glass bowl began to glow an unearthly shade of green, faintly illuminating the startled faces of the pirates around the table.

Barbosa had already risen from his seat and grabbed a hold of his pistol. Jack was trying to climb out of his, but being both drunk and in a state of panic caused him to lose track of his limbs and somehow find himself entangled in his chair.

"What does that girl think she's doin'?" snarled the older pirate.

Jack thought he might have an idea. Elizabeth was a sensible woman for the most part, except where matters of the heart were concerned. She would only go to such extreme measures as summoning an angry heathen goddess if she thought it would save someone she loved. As Jack himself was obviously fine, save for the terrible hangover he was expecting to have in the morning, the only one she could be concerned for was Will. But how could her husband's life be in danger when he was the immortal captain of the Flying Dutchman?

Elizabeth dropped the stone as it cracked open and began to transform. Crab-like creatures were now pouring over the edges of the bowl, forming an ever-growing mound that slowly took human shape.

"So, you t'ink you can bribe me wit' your petty lives?" asked Tia Dalma's sultry voice, issuing from a vaguely mouth-like bulge. "If I'd had wanted dem, I could'a claimed dem any moment I wished."

"But your powers are limited, O' Great One," the Pirate King reminded her. "On land, we would be safe from your fury. Yet see how I've taken the trouble of gathering all of your enemies together for you, to do with as you will. All I ask in return is a simple favor."

The god had finished forming, standing once more in the skin of the black voodoo sorceress. Her bright teeth flashed in a predatory smile.

"Give me his name."

Elizabeth's eyes burned like coals in the eerie light, and Jack's faith in her was somewhat restored in realizing that whatever madness she was conspiring, she was not doing it by choice. She spat out the words like a piece of rotten gristle.

"Cutler Beckett."

* * *

_Five weeks earlier..._

She should have known that this would happen. Her curse had left its mark on Pai Huang, who finally abandoned his dreams of power and left Singapore shortly after her son, William, was born. He did not leave quietly, however. In a fit of rage, her old advisor shouted promises of the downfall of her empire. Like an evil fairy godparent, he cast curses of his own at Elizabeth and her newborn son.

_May you come to the attention of those in authority._ That was more-or-less a direct translation. The threat would have been meaningless to her six years ago, but now she had become one of the most wanted people in Asia. As she grew more confident and knowledgeable about her domain, her underground empire flourished. The East India Trade Company, which had never fully recovered after the loss of its chairman, was never again able to establish a foothold there. The king's soldiers were taunted so badly by the townsfolk that they chose never to leave the safety of their ships.

That created just the air of complacency that made Elizabeth fall into their trap.

"Have we come to an agreement then, Captain Turner?"

Elizabeth cast a look of loathing at the gentleman seated across from her. Dressed in the finery of the British navy, Captain Groves smiled at her politely and sipped his tea. This was all merely a staged formality, of course. Groves possessed something that already assured him of her cooperation.

"If you harm him in any way-"

"Come now, dear madam, you should know that I am not the ruthless man my predecessor was. That, lamentably, may be the reason our Company has fallen on such hard times. Under Lord Beckett, the pirate scourge was almost eradicated. Our profits were greater than we could have ever dreamed. And now, in these five short years, we have been reduced to a handful of ships, barely earning enough to scrape by. We are an embarrassment to His Royal Highness, where once we were his closest ally."

"You'll get no sympathy from me," growled Elizabeth. "Or have you forgotten that it was your beloved leader who murdered my father?"

Groves stared into his cup rather than meet her eyes. "Your father broke the law. Lord Beckett fought to uphold it. If there was any justice left in this world, he would be the one sharing tea with me this evening, and _you _would be the one at the bottom of the ocean."

Elizabeth swallowed her angry reply, stunned by the sorrow in the man's voice. That illusion of weakness lasted only seconds, however, as the man suddenly rose from his chair and slammed the porcelain glass onto the table, shattering it into a dozen pieces.

"The pirates Barbossa and Sparrow both returned from the dead. You will find a way to bring Lord Beckett back as well. Do this, and I will return your son to you."

Meek and mild-mannered as he was, Groves had to work hard to look intimidating. But Elizabeth, who in the past had faced armed men twice her size without flinching, hardly cared what the East India officer looked like.

He had her son. That's all that mattered.


End file.
